Date: Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:18:30 -0500
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: Traction? Not very much
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed; delsp=no
Most of the vehicles I saw stuck in drifts by the side of the road due
to the blizzard last week, in both Texas and Oklahoma, were SUVs, many
of them 4wd. I don't think that is because those vehicles get stuck
easier, I think it is because (1) there are many, many of those on the
road, and (2) drivers of 4WD vehicles, especially in places where snow
is rare or at least not common, think they can drive better because they
have 4WD. Guess what .............. . Experience and common sense are
more important. DMc
On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 6:07 PM, Allan Streib wrote:
> I have not driven very much in the snow in my 2WD, 4-speed GL, because
> I
> like to keep it out of the salt. However in March of '08 I drove it
> from Indiana to Florida with the first 200 miles or so of the trip
> going
> through a pretty significant winter storm.... many inches of snow and
> plowing not keeping up. I had on four brand new Hankook RA08 tires
> and
> really had no trouble. I did have the whole family and luggage in the
> van, but no extra weight otherwise. Saw many other cars spun off the
> road, including a fair number of 4WD SUVs.
>
> Allan
>
> Don Hanson writes:
>
>> One of the few areas where I fault my 84 Vanagon manual tranny
>> low-top
>> 'westie' is it's lack of ability to go. I am now committed to
>> 'saving up'
>> for a limited slip diff.
>>
>> I am a very good snow driver. I lived over 20 years in Jackson
>> Hole,
>> Wyoming and drove to work at the ski area every day. My Ski Patrol
>> job had
>> me arriving there at an ungodly hour to shoot the avalanche control
>> guns on
>> stormy mornings, so my commute was often before any snow plows,
>> through
>> drifts white-out storms, etc. I had a variety of vehicles during
>> those
>> years, not one a 4wd and yet I rarely got stuck or couldn't make it
>> where I
>> needed to go.
>>
>> But this Vanagon really frustrates me. It's simply not good at
>> all...in
>> fact it is 'amazingly' poor. I keep trying, thinking "Hey, it can't
>> be THAT
>> bad, maybe if I_______ this time" and like that. It feels like it
>> should do
>> OK. I've been over all the suspension looking for reasons why it
>> sucks..I
>> have decent tires. The "open differential" must be waay more open
>> than any
>> other vehicle I have ever owned..Even my old long bed 2wd six
>> cylinder ford
>> pickup had better wintertime traction without any weight at all in
>> the
>> back...."Amazing"..
>> Just yesterday I tried again to 'leave our Hill' in the Vanagon
>> with a
>> little snow (about 3-5") on our gravel driveway. Couldn't make it
>> back
>> up...missed by about 20' and had to go get the pickup to tow it up
>> the rest
>> of the way.
>> Even with Nokian Hakka M+S with decent tread and a rear decklid
>> loaded
>> with ballast (480lbs of stove pellet bags) the van just would not
>> make the
>> grade...The van is virtually useless with any snow whatsoever. I had
>> to
>> 'un-mothball' my diesel Ford truck! I must be beyond the "Denial"
>> stage
>> finally.
>>
>> Don Hanson
>>
>
> --
> 1991 Vanagon GL
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